Tellus Airborne Survey takes off over South Central Ireland

The next phase of the Tellus Survey – a nationwide programme of Geological Survey Ireland – will take off over southern and central counties of Ireland in the comings days. Tellus is a programme to collect geochemical and geophysical data on rocks, soil and water across Ireland. To gather the geophysical data, a low-flying airplane equipped with state-of -the-art instruments will fly over counties Laois, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Waterford, and neighbouring parts of Offaly, Cork, Carlow and Kildare from September until the end of the year, weather permitting.

The Tellus Survey programme has been mapping across Ireland over the last nine years and is currently funded under Project2040 the National Development Plan by Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. The programme aims to have 75% of Ireland mapped by 2020, with the resulting data having the potential to deliver positive economic, environmental and agricultural benefits by helping to assist in local environment understanding, soil management, and natural resource potential for these counties. Data collected throughout the Tellus project is published and made freely available to all on the Tellus website (www.tellus.ie).

Dr James Hodgson, Senior Geologist and Project Manager for Tellus, said:

The survey aircraft is a white, twin propeller plane (as pictured), which is easily identified by its red tail and black stripe as well as the word ‘SURVEY’ and registration number C-GSGF written across both sides of the plane.

Based at Waterford airport, the survey plane will be flying at 60 metres over rural areas – about eight times the height of a two-storey house – and 240 metres over urban areas in the coming months, as approved by the Irish Aviation Authority.

Due to the low-flying altitude of the survey aircraft, anyone concerned about sensitive livestock is encouraged to contact the Tellus Freephone Information Line on 1800 45 55 65. The Tellus team will be happy to provide information on upcoming flight plans.

ENDS

• Geological Survey Ireland is Ireland’s National Earth Science agency. It is responsible for providing geological advice and information, and for the acquisition of data for this purpose. Geological Survey Ireland produces a range of products including maps, reports and databases and acts as a knowledge centre and project partner in all aspects of Irish geology. It is a division of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE)
• The airborne survey is operated by Sander Geophysics Ltd., on behalf of Geological Survey Ireland.
• The aircraft carries a range of instruments on board for navigation purposes and to measure geophysical properties of the ground
• The geophysical instruments on board the plane are: i) a magnetometer which measures the variations in the Earth’s magnetic field; ii) a gamma ray detector which measures the natural radioactivity of shallow soil and rocks; iii) a frequency-domain electromagnetic (EM) system which measures variations in conductivity between different soils and rocks. All instruments are safe and do not emit any radiation
• The navigation instruments include: i) a satellite navigation system; ii) a radar altimeter for measuring altitude; iii) a video camera to record where the plane is flown for data quality purposes – video footage will not be used for anything else
• ‘Tellus’ was the Roman goddess of the earth, also called Terra Mater